Apparatus for indicating and recording changes at a distant point



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1. G. E. WINSLOW.

NGES AT A APPARATUS FOR IND IOATING AND RECORDING GHA DISTANT POINT.

QNo Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

G. E. WINSLOW. APPARATUS FOR INDIOATING AND RECORDING CHANGES AT A DISTANT POINT.

No. 395,862.. Patented Jan. 8, 1889.

f7: van 3'0 7: 6 607176 Z. Winsl w NW. NW W UN TED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

GEORGE E. WINSLOW, or WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR INDICATING AND RECORDING CHANGES AT A DlSTANT POINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent'No. 395,862, dated January 8, 1889.

Application filed March 2'7, 18 88. Serial No. 268,667. (Noniodel-l To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, GEORGE E, W1NsLow, of Waltham, county of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Apparatus for Indicating and Re I are to be indicated and produces changes in an electric circuit corresponding in. number and character to such changes in condition, and which cause an electric current to-operate a receiving-instrument at the place where such changes in condition are to be indicated.

For convenience in description the apparatus will be described as operating to indicate changes in the level of water, although it is obvious that changes of other kinds can be indicated at a distant point by apparatus .of substantially the same construction and mode of operation. A

The tr'ansmitting-instrument must produce effects of one kind on the receiving-instrument to indicate changes of one character as, for example, the rise of the water-level and efiects of another character to indicate the fall of the water-level, and the degrees of change can be indicated with any desired degree of minuteness-as, for example, for each inch change in the water-level.

Care must be taken in the construction of the instrument to guard against a false registration by changes that are a greater or less fraction of those that are to be indicated as, for e2 ample,.if the water should rise threefourths of an inch, the transmitter must not produce any effect on the circuitand the moment that an indication of one kind is made as, for example, that of an inch rise.the instrument must be ready to make the indicae tion in the opposite direction in case a change of opposite character begins. If, for exam ple, the water should rise just one inch from any given point and make the corresponding reco rd,and should then begin to fall without performing the operation of indicating for such fall, the receiving-instrument or indicator would be thrown out of unison or harmony with the transmitter-instrumcut and the indications would be falsified.

The invention consists in various combiwith suitable electric circuits and batteries or other generators of electricity by which the operation of the transmitter is caused to produce corresponding operations of the receiving-instrument or indicator proper.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a transmit- 7o ting-instrument formingpart of the indicating apparatus embodying this invention; Fig. 2-, a -detail showing in perspective a part of said transmitting-instrument; Fig. 3, a

front elevation of the receiving-instrument;

Fig. 4, a detail showing in perspective a portion of saidreceiving-instrument; Fig. 5, a diagram perspective View showing the operative part of a relay that may be included in the circuit connecting the transmitter and receiv- 8o ing instruments, for the purpose hereinafter explained; Fig. 6, a detail thereof, to be referred to; and Fig. 7, a diagram showing the circuits preferably employed for connecting the transmitting-instrument and the receiving-instrument.

The 'transmitting-instrument comprises a shaft, a, which may be provided with a pulley, as indicated in dotted lines at a, so that the said shaft is turned in' one or the other 0 direction in accordance with changes of condition to be indicated, as, for example, by the rise and fall of the water-level indicated at a which acts through a float, c and cord or chain a and counter-weight a to rotate the said shaft a and pulley a in one or'the other direction, according as the water-level rises or falls. As' shown in this instance, the shaft a is provided with a gear, a, meshing with a pinion, a on a shaft, b, which carries the dezoo vices thatproduce the changes in circuit by which the receiving-instrument is operated.

The gears a o are merely to increase the movement of the shaft b with relation to the variable actuator a the changes'of position of which are to be indicated, and it is apparent that the. variable actuating part a might act directly on the shaft b where such increase of movement is not needed, as it is merely necessary that the shaft 1) should be turned in one direction as the actuating object varies in one way and should be turned in the opposite direction as the said object va- I0 ries in the opposite way, and that the amount of movement of the shaftb should be proportioned to the variations in the object to be indicated. J a 1 V The rotation of the shaft 1) in one or the other direction controls the circuits between the transmitting instruments and the receiver by means of two gravitating actuators or. weighted cam-hubs that operate circuitcontrolling contacts ;in their falling movement. One of the cam-hubs is engaged and rotated by the. shaft as it turnsin one direction and the other as it turns in the opposite direction by the following mechanism: The said shaft 1) has fixed upon it an arm or pawl- 2 5 carrienb, in which is pivoted a shaft or arbor, b having fixed upon its ends pawls'b b, that project in opposite directions with'relation to, said pawl-carrier, as best shown in Fig. 1, and, owing to the fact that they are 0 connected together, the end of one of said pawls mustmove inward toward the axis of the shaftb as the other moves outward, and

p the reverse. The said shaft balso has loose upon it the two cam-hubs c d, which are sub 5 stantially similar to one another, so that the description of one will answer for both, the

reference letters indicating corresponding parts havingthe same characteristics. Each of said cam-hubs is provided with a weighted 4o arm, c' d, which tends toremain by gravity in the position of the one arm 0 and to come to said position under the action of gravity when permitted. v i

., The cam-hub has a portion, c on which 5 the end of the pawl b travels, and a portion of said surfaceis raised, as shown at 0 so that when the corresponding pawl, 1), travels .over it it tends to throw the said pawl outward, and thus, as before stated, tends tomove 5c the otherpawl inward, or, in other words, pre- [vent it from moving outwardas long as the pawl 19 is on the high part a This high part c is'provided with a notch, 0 at one side of the axis of the shaft 1), while the corresponding notch, d of the other-cam hnbis normally at the other side ojftheaxis when both arms of d are hanging down in their normal position. The actionof gravity 'on the pawls b btis such that the weight of thepawl that is lowermosttends to throw the other pawlinto' the notch of. the corresponding cam-hub when in the. rotation of the shaft b the pawl is app'roaching said notch, and thistendency may be, increased bylight springs b which tend keep the pawls both atabou't, the same dis- ,tance-froin the shaft b. Thus-when, both of the weighted arms are hanging downward in their normal position and the shaft 1) is turned, for example, in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2, the pawl I) would have engaged with the high part (1 of the cam-hub (1 while the pawlb was on the lower part of the camhub 0, so that the pawl (1 could ride up on the high part of the cam d, where it would engage the notch (1 this having occurred when the cam-hub d. and shaft b were at position about half a turn from the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Then, as the shaft 17 continued to move in this direction, the pawl I) would fall into the notch (l and turn the cam-hubnearly in the vertical position, as shown, the

opposite pawl, b, is on the high part 0 of the other cam-hub, .0, so that even if the weighted arm (1 were carried beyond the vertical position, so that it tended by gravity to fall away from the pawl 12 it could not do so, as

the inclined face of thenotch d would engage the under part of the pawl 12 and prevent such falling of the weight as long as the pawl b was prevented from moving out-ward" by the high part c of the other cam-hub acting on the pawl b. The object of this is that even if the arm (1 were carried beyond the vertical position, it might fall if acted upon by gravity alone; but just atthis m'ome'nt if the shaft 1) should begin to turn in the other direetion-say that opposite thearrow in Fig. .2it will be seen that the other hub, 0, would not be engaged in such return movement, and consequently if the 'ar'md had fallen, and thus given the indication. for the movement in the direction of the arrow, the arm e wouldnot be ready to -gine thecorresponding indication for the returnmovement; but by. having the pawl 1' held as shown, if the shaft b should reverse its movement when in the position shown in Fig. 2,

tli'esaid pawl b would engage the under or.

inclined part of the'notch d and turn the corresponding to a complete rotation of the arm d backward, so that it would not give arrndication, since a completerotation of ,said arm 1s required to give the indication shaft bin the direction of the arrow. If,

however, the said shaft b continues its movement inthe direction of the arrow a trifle farther, the pawl b will be. permitted by the notch c to drop, which will permit the pawl b to move out and ,let the *arnrd' fall, cont pleting its rotation in thedirection in which L Y the shaft b is moving, and thus make itsfi idication for the single rotationof the'sh'aft b in'the direction of the arrow; but ifimme- .diately after this has occurredthe'shaft I) should begin'to turn in the opposite dirfection it would engage the cam-hub c, so that v if itmade a'complete turn in this reversed rection the arm 0 will be carried with mafia indicate such return movement. The, circuit .Ghanges bywhich th mrqyemntslbfnthefl weighted arms 0 d are caused to twi corresponding indications to the receiving-' instrument are produced by cam-surfaces c (1 which in the fall of the weighted arms by gravity act on pairs of contact-springs e 'e, &c.,Fig. 1. Then the weighted arms (1 fall, they pass over spring-fingers c d, which prevent return movement and stop oscillation of said arms, as will be readily understood from Figs. 1 and 2.

. For the simplest electrical connection between the transmitting-instrument and receiving-instrument represented in Fig. 3 there might be merely a pair of springs, e e, operated by the cam 0 and a corresponding pair operated by the corresponding cam, (1 of the other weighted arm, one spring of each pair being connected, for example, with a batterywire, (indicated at 2, Figs. 1 and 3,) and thus connecting one pole of the battery B with one spring of each pair, the other pole of said battery being connected by wires 3 and 4 with .one terminal of each of the magnets f-and g of thereceiving-instrument. The other terminal of the magnet f, for example, would be connected by wire 5 with the other spring of the pair controlled by the cam-hub c, and the other terminal of the other magnet, as g, would be connected by wire 6 with the other spring of the pair controlled by the cam-hub (1.

Thus the two springs of a pair, being normally open, will be pressed together by the passage of the high part c or of the corresponding cam-hub when the weighted arm falls after being released by its pawl, as be- .35

f other words,-complete rotation of the cam-hub fore described; Such fall of the arm 0, or, in

0, will thus close and then open the circuit thr'oughth'e magnet f, while the corresponding complete rotation of the oam-hub d will close and open the circuit through the magnet'g of the receiving-instrument, the 0011-.

struction of which will now be described.

The magnets f and g and parts controlled immediately by them are substantially alike,

so that the description of one will answerfor both, the reference-letters being characterized to correspond, as in the 'case of the transmit ter cam-hubs. p 5

The. armature-lever f, pivoted at f, is provided with a pawl, f which, when the said armature is attracted, acts on the teeth of a Wheel, 71, turning the said wheel for the space of one tooth in one direction. The pawl g of the magnet g turns the said wheel h in the opposite direction, so that it will be understood that the said wheel his moved for the space of one tooth in one or the other direction, according as the shaft b'of the transmitter makes a rotation in one or the other direction. A stop, f brings up on the wheel h, preventing the pawl f from carrying the wheel h more than the space of one'tooth, and afriction device, h, tends to prevent sudden "movement of the wheel h. The wheel h is provided with a locking device, which engages it and prevents it from rotating when disengaged by the pawls of both magnets, as shown in Fig. 3. The construction and mode of operation of this lockin g device are best shown in Fig. 4. It consists of a bolt or finger, '17, connected with a rockshaft, i', and movable into and out from the space between the two lower teeth of the wheel 72. The upper part of the locking-finger i is beveled, as shown, to facilitate its entrance between the teeth of the wheel, the

outline of a portion of which is shown in Fig. 4; but below the beveled portion the finger is square, so as not to be thrown out by any tendency of the wheel to rotate.

The rock-shaft i is provided with an arm, i acted upon by a spring, 1' tending to rotate the said shaft in the direction to throw the finger i up between the'teeth, and the said finger must be moved down frontbetween the teeth before the pawl f or g of either magnet engages the teeth. This is accomplished by an arm, is, connected with a rock-shafh k, provided with an arm, k acted upon by a projection, f from the armature lever f, it being understood'that a similar arm,,k is operated in a similar manner by a projection, 9 from the armature-lever g. either pawl moves forward toward the wheel h, the projection f (or corresponding projection, 9 engages the arm k before the pawlf reaches the teeth ofthe wheel, and the arms I; k constitute a bent lever,- which, when thus engaged and operated by the projection f -moves the locking projection i down from between the teeth of the wheel h, so that the Thus, when pawl f in its further movement upon reaching and engaging the wheel can turn the same for thespace of one tooth, as before described.

The spring {3 tends to move the parts in the opposite'direction, and thus constitutes a re-- tractor for eitherof the armature-levers that 'may have been movedby the attraction of its magnet.

The arbor of the wheel It may be provided with apointer, as indicated at 72 co-operating with a dial the graduations of which cor respond to the movements of the actuator a of the transniitting instrument that produces bor of the wheel h is connected by a train of "-wheelwork, 'm, with a toothed sector, m, the

arbor of which may be provided with an arm, m having a marker, m co-operating with a dial, a portion of which-is shown at m said dial being rotated by the arbor m of a clock' at a uniform time movement, and being indicate time and by circular lines that indicate the difierence of position of the actuator a so that the trailing mark made by the ,marked off by substantially-radial lines that 7 shown in the diagram Fig. 7 may be adopted,

in which but a single circuit is required, involving the use of one wire between the transmitter and receiver if a ground-circuit is employed or two wires if a metallic circuit is employed, as shown. In this construction each cam-hub operates two pairs of springs, the portion of the cam-hub 0 closing the springs e 6 against the springs 'e' e as the arm 0' falls by gravity, and the correspond ing cam-surface, d of the cam-hub 01 closing the springs as e against the springs e e These four pairs of springs are connected with the line and battery, as shown, so as to constitute a pole-changer, one set of springs operated by one cam-hub closing the battery to line with its poles in oneposition and'the' other set of springs closing it to line with its poles in the opposite position. To effect this,

' onepole of the battery B is connected 'by wire 10 with one of the springs, 8 e of each pair, making such springs, for example, positive, as marked, and the other pole is connected by wire 12 with the other spring of each pair-+namely, e and c -which are thus "made negative. One terminal, 13, of the main line connecting the transmitter and receiver is connected with one of the lower springspf; each pairas, for example, 6 e that co-open ate with upper springs of opposite polarity, and the other terminal, 14, of the main line' is connected with theother springs, 2 e

. Thus, when the pairs-p e e 'e 'areelosed, the positive pole of the battery is connected with the'terminal '13 and the negative withthe terminal 14' of the main line, and when the otherlpairs,e e e e are closed.- the negative pole of the battery is-connecte'd with the terminal 13 and the positive with the terminal 14, thus sending the current in the opposite direction. These twoconditions of the cur-- rent are caused to eifect the magnets. f and g,;

said shaft closes a circuit-closer, t, whichgis respectively, by the intervention of a relay .at'tlie receiving-station, the-construction ofwhich is bests'hown' in Fig; 5. The said re-v n constitutea polarized relay thatcontrols;

' "two local circuits for themagnets f am;-

"respectively, asclearly shown in Fig.7, one

' poleof the battery'B of said local circuit 'be-' ing connected by wire with said annature,

wheels on the shafts a, b,and' r rior gear-wheel 'r thereon is; provided with its other pole being. connected by wires ,30 and 40 with one terminal of each of the magnets f and g, respectively, and the other terminal of the magnet f being connected by wire with the stop 11 and the other terminal of the magnet g being connect-ed by wire with the stop n As the polarized armature will remain against either stop to which it may be moved after the current that moved it hasceased,means are providedfor retracting it'to an intermediate position between the two stops n a after each impulse has ceased, as follows: The armature n has a projecting finger, n, which stands over a V- shaped notch in a projection, o, of the armature-lever 0? of a neutral magnet, 0 included in the same circuit with the polarized relay-magnet n. The armature-lever 0' moves in a plane at right angles to thatin which the armature n moves, and the V-shaped forkwill be moved away from the finger 71 each time the circuit is closed, regardless of the polarity of the current, thus permitting the armature n to respond and move in one or the other direction, according to the polarity of the current. When the current ceases, the retractor ofthe armature-lever 0' will move the forked end up against theprojectioh We, thus actinglike a wedge on said projection to move itback'to polarized armature. Themain line passes from the terminal13 to one terminal,15, of

the polarized relay-magnet, and from the other terminal of said polarized relay magnet by connection'16 to one terminal of the neutral magnet'0 ,the other terminal, 17 of which is connected with the terminal Heat the transmitterfor said terminals '14 and 17 -m'ay be grounded.

v Means 'are alsoprovidedfor giving a special signal or alarm in case the actuator a arrives at a predetermined limit, or, in other words,

at the end of any desired predetermined-num- "ber of movements ofthe shaft'b' in one direction.. For this purpose the shaft ajis con- ;nected by. gears 'rr' with a shaft, r ,'fwhich makes one rotation at the end-of any predetermined number-of rotation's of the shaft 12,-

according to the, proportions of the gear- The shaft 5. projection, 1' which-once in'the rotation l'of normally "open. The shaft-a '01 wheel -6/ thereon is provided withaproj ection, a that once at each rotation -closes anormally-open 'circuitcloser, if; t The said circuit closers ftt are [placed I' in --'circuit s'eflat-im, as shown r in Fig. 7,; sothatboth have :to be 'closedsimultaneously inorder to'f'close' the circuit 'to the Signalor alarm instrument S, Fig. 7 Thus, althoughthe'circuitacloser t'is closed at each revolution ofthe shaft a, it-does notproduce any efiect until at the. end of acomplete-rotation of the shaft 7- when the projection keeps the circuit-closer t closed, while the projection a closes the circuit-closer i, and thus completely closes thecircuit connecting the transmitting-instrumentwith the alarminstrument S.

The circuit of the alarm-signal S may include one of the wires that connect the transnutter and receiving apparatus, before described, without interfering with their operation, which is desirable when the transmitter 1s at a considerable distance from the receiver,

as it saves expense in line construct-ion. This may be effected, as shown in Fig. 6, by having the circuitclosers t t interposed between the ground and one terminal, as 14, of the main line connecting the transmitter and receiver,

such connection being shown at 21, Fig. 7

- The line 14 17 is connected at 22 with the battery-wire 20 of. the local circuit between the relay and receiving-instrument, and from lone side of the hatteryB in said local circuitthere is a branch, 23, extending to one terminal of the magnet of the signal S, which is shown as a vibrating bell, the other terminal of Whlch is connected by wire 2i with the armature p of a relay-magnet, p, the front stop of whicharmature is connected, as shown at 25, with the portion of the local circuit at the other side of the battery B so that when" the said armature is attracted the signal S is in circuit with the battery B that operates the magnets f g of the receiving-instrument.

Bey'on'cl'the battery B from the point 22, @011.

nected with the main line, is another branch, 26, connected with one terminal of the relaymagnet p, the other terminal of which is grounded, as shown at 27. Thepin a on the wheel a is so located that it closes'the circuit-closer t in a portion of the rotation of I the shaft 12 in which neither of the weighted camshubs is permitted to fall, so that the two operationsnamely, that of the cam- ,hubs and. that of the circuit-closers z twill not interfere with one another, although they mightbe made to work simultaneously, if need be, by properly proportionin'g the different batteries. \Vhen both circuit-closers it are closed, a circuit is aiforded from the ground by wire 21 to theterminal 14, thence by the main line to the point 22, and thence by wire 20 vto the battery B and from said battery by wires 26 and 2.7 to the ground through the magnet 10', which is thusenergized by the current of the battery B in 'thegrounded circuit andattractsitsarmature, thus closing the local circuit 20 23 24 25, through the same battery, -B ,'and the signals, the current of the battery divid. ing between the signal and relay magnets.

and being sufficient to operate both. The current of the battery B thus does not pass through the relay-magnets n and 0 that control the receiving-instrument, and would not interfere with theoperation of said relay-magnets even if one of the cam-hubs should Opwhile the circuit-closers t i were closed,

and the batteryB might aiford suflicient current to operate the magnet f or g of the receiving-instrument at the same time with the magnet of the signal S and its relay if there should be any occasion to do so.

The invention is not limited to the specific construction of the devices shown and de scribed, as it is obvious that this can be varied by the substitution of various mechanical devices having substantially the same mode of operation, which may be regarded as mechanical equivalents for the specific devices shown.

I claim 1. The combination of a movable actuator the changes in position of which are to be indicated with two electric contact-makers, and two corresponding weights each having a part that engages and operates the corresponding contaccmaker when the weight falls, and a weight-lifting pawl corresponding to each of said weights operatively connected with the zfiShGHldi-ll to be engaged by the corresponding pawl, as set forth, whereby one is operated by movements of the-shaft in one direction and'the other by movements of the shaft in the opposite direction, substantially as described. r

3. The combination of the shaft and pawlcarrier thereon with two pawls supported on said pawl-carrier and connected together, as set forth, and two weighted cam-hubs loose on .said shaft, each hub having a raised portion provided with a notch to be engaged by the corresponding" pawl, and the raised portion of one of said cam-hubs holding the other pawl in the notch engaged by it, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. Ina receiving instrument, a toothed wheel capable of moving in either direction, combined with two electro-magnets and armature-levers therefor, provided with pawls, one of which rotates the said Wheel in one direc tion and the other in the other direction, and

I a locking device for said wheel, consisting of the finger having a beveled portion and a square portion of proper widthv to enter between the teeth, and elbow-levers that operate the said locking device and are themselves operated by each of said armature-levers, as described, whereby the wheel is unlocked before the pawl of either armature-lever' engages it, substantially as described.

5. The combination of atransmitting-instrument having two sets of contacts and a bat- .tery and line connected with the said. con- Ia p p 395,8 2

tacts; as set forth, whereby one 'set of contacts connects the battery to line in one posi-- tion and the other in the opposite position,

with a polarized relay in said main circuit and a neutral electro-magnet in said circuit and armature'therefor, having a notched proje'ction that engages the armature of the polarized relay and retracts it to an intermediate position between its magnet-poles when the said armature of the neutral magnet is retracted, and areceiving-instrument having two electro-magnets and circuits therefor, controlled by the armature of said polarized relay and contacts at either side thereof, respectively, substantially as described.

6. The combination of a transmitting-instrument havingtwo' sets of contacts and a battery and a line connected with said contacts,

asset foi'tlnand the polarized relay at the receiving-station in said line, with a ground normally-open circuit-closer th erein, a branch from said line between the transmitter and relay at the receiving-station, including a bat ,ter'y and relay connected with the ground,

and a local circuit for said battery controlled by said relay, and the signal or alarm instru-' ment included in said local circuit, substantially as described.

branch from said line at the transmitter and 

